Track mechanism for automatic train-control systems



Oct.

o. B. KENT ETAL I TRACK IECHAN ISM FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEISPatented Oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED-STATES r T Nr FFICE.

one B. KENT, or WASHINGTON, nrs 'nIo or coLUMBrA, AND ROBERT L. MILLER,

or SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, sAIn- MILLER AssroNoa To oTIs U oMATIc TRAINCONTROL, INQ, OE SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, A ORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

TRACK MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC T'RAlIN-CONTBbL SYSTEMS.

Application filed June 30, 1921. Serial No. 479,056.

To all whom it may concern: 7 7

Be it known that we, O Is B. KENT and ROBERT L. MILLER, citizens oftheUnited States, and residents of \Vashington, in the District ofColumbia, and Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington,respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in TrackMechanism for Automatic Train-Control 1 Systems, of which the followingis a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in track mechanisms for automatictrain control systems, andit consists more particularly in the provisionof a ramp device which is capable of movement into or out of the path oftravel of a shoe constituting a part of the train carried mechanismwhereby under predetermined conditions said shoe is actuated in a mannerto cause the train carried mechanism to act on the air brakes of thetrain to thereby control the travel of the latter.

An important purpose'of our invention resides in the provision of a rampdevice of the character mentioned which is of simple and inexpensiveconstruction, possessing few parts: compactly arranged, and unlikely toet out of order, which is gravity opera-tec in a positive manner to anormally active shoe actuating position and which may be electrically orotherwise operated to inactive position. 1 A

1 Our invention consists essentially. in the provision of a supportingelement for one or preferably two pivoted'ramp rails, a projectable andretractible shoe operable to swing said rails on their pivots to disposethem either in active or inactive position with respect to the traincarried mechanism designed to be actuated thereby and means foreffecting desired movements of said shoe; saiclmeans including a pair oflinks forming a' toggle between the casing and shoe,a lever pivotedtothe shoe and to the casing, and a rod connecting said lever with thetoggle. With such an arrangement we accomplish the desired purposes ofquickly and easily moving the shoe and consequently the ramp railseither to active or inactive position and of locking the toggle againstcollapse under the influence of downward pressure on the shoe when thesame is projected position.

- iOtl'ier'pnrposes as well as the nature and advantages of ourimprovements will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which ourinvention appertains when the accompanying drawings are considered inthe light of the detailed description thereof to follow. It is desiredto point out and have it understood, however, that variouschanges anddesirable additions may be made in and to the structure illustratedwithout departing from the spirit or scope of our invention as definedin the appended claims.

In the -drawings,wherein like characters of reference denotecorresponding parts in the different views v I j Fig. 1 is aloi'igitudinal-section. through a ramp device embodying thenovelcharacter, istics of our invention showing the shoeactnatin'gelements'in normal position; and f Fig. 2 is a view, similar to Fig. 1 showingthe shoe actuating elements moved to non-active position.

Referring now to the drawings in detail,- 10 designates a somewhatelongated, preferably, rectangular hollow casing which serves .as a?housing and support for the movable elements of our device and which isadapted to be secured in' any suitable manner at a desired locationalong the tracks of a railroad whereby said movable elements aredisposedin position to actuate a traincarried shoe 111 which is"connected in any preferred manner to mechanism whereby actuation ofsaid shoewill, under predetermined conditions act through said mechanismto control the travel of' the train.

Thespecific type of mechanism to be actu- .ated by our improved rampdevice consti tntes no part of. o'urpresent invention and we havetherefore. illustrated only the shoe.

element of one form of such mechanism in order to show therelationbetween our de-' vice and that part of a train carried mechanism whichit is designed to actuate.

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Withmore particular reference to the f drawings it will he'observedthatthe upper wall of the casing 10 has pivoted-there to at anapproximately intermediate point thereon one end of a ramp rail 12- Thisramp rail is, thicker near its pivoted end than at its free end and istapered towards said free end where it terminates in a relatively thinedge.

A second .r'amp rail 13, in all respects -a duplicate of the ramp rail12, is also pivoted .to the upper wall of the casing near one end ofvthe latter, and as shown, the free end of this rail extends towards thefree end of rail 12. Both rails are adapted to swing in a vertical planeand their tree ends are designed to be at all times supported upon ashoe 14: which is located mid.- way between the pivots of said rails andwhich is adapted to loo-projected and retracted in a vertical directionwith respect to th casinglO whereby said ramp rails may be swung to araised position as illustrated in Fig. 1 or permitted to move down.-ward to a lowered position as shown in Fig. 2. s

The means for projecting and retracting the shoe 14 consists primarilyof a lever 15 disposed within the casing and pivoted at an intermediatepoint thereto as at 16. One

end of this lever is pivoted as at 17 to an under portion of the "shoeand its other end is weighted as at 18, said weighted end acting to'raise the-other end and thereby normally hold the shoe in a projectedposition and the ramp rails disposed at-an upward inclined from theirrespective pivoted ends toward the shoe.

addition to the lever 15 other means has been provided to assist inprojecting and retracting the shoe and to support and hold the samesubstantially rigid, particularly in its projected position. "This meansconsists of a pair of links 1-9 1a-nd20, the tormer of which is pivotedas a-t-21 to an under portion of the shoe while the latter is pivotedas'at 22 to the casing, or more desirably, to a block such as shown at23 secured to the lower wall of the casing. Said links 1-9 and 20 arerelatively pivotal-1y connected at their adjacent ends so that a breakjoint 2%]: is provided and connecting this'break'joint with one endoii ashort lever 25,"whic h is pivoted to the casing at its other end as at'26, is a rod 27'. Carried'by the lever 15 is a pin 28 which rides in aslot in the short lever 25 and which acts to swing's'aid short lever tomove the rod-27 to either break or straighten the toggle produced bysaid links l 9'and 20 when the weighted end of lever 15 isfraised orlowered as the case may be. From the foregoing it is obvious that aslong as the weighted end of the lever 15 isin its lowermost position thejoint 24 is locked by the rod 27 and no downward movement of the 1 shoecan occur. This is the normal position of the parts mentioned, the samebeing maintained'in the relation shown in Fig. 1 by the weight 18 as isapparent. Preferably sume either of the positions illustrated in thedrawings. When in the position shown in Fig. 1 theshoe 11 carried by \atrain passing over the device will engage one or the other of the ramprails, depending upon the direction of approach of the train, and willbe raised thereby, {thus .actuatjingthe train mechanism and brakes. Ontheother ,hand when in the position shown in Fig. 2

the shoe 11 will pass ireely over said ramp rails and the trainmechanism and brakes will be unaffected.

The shoe 14 is desirably so shaped upon its upper face as to provideseats to receive the free ends of theramp rails and at the same timeprovide an even continuation of their upper faces. Desirably too theramp rails are pivoted on rods extending between pairs of lugs risingEron1 the upper *face of the casing and their pivoted ends are round edso as to have a hearing on the casing and relieve the pivot rods of aportion of'their weight. Furthermore, we deem it within the 'spir it ofour invention to make use. of a solenoid arrangement in lieu of theeleetromagnetic arrangement hereln illustratedand to make various otherchanges additions as may from time to time become desirable within thescope of our invention as defined in the appended claims.

e claim 1. A ramp device tor automatic train control apparatus includinga pair of ram-p rails arranged in endto end relation, a weight operatedmember normally exerting an up ward force upon the adjacent inner endsof said ramp rails to 'maintain them normally projected, andelectro-magnetic means to retract said member thereby to permitretraction of said ramp rails under the influence of gravity.

2}. A ramp device for automatic train con Itrol apparatus comprising acasing, a pair of ramp rails carried by saidcasing and arranged in endto end relation, amember within said casing pivoted interm-ediately andhaving one end weighted whereby its other end is maintained normallyelevated, an operative connection between the normally elevated end ofsaid member and the ad jacent ends of saidramp rails whereby the latterare maintained normally projected,

and electro-magnetic means for retracting the normally elevated end ofsaid member whereby said ramp rails may be depressed by gravity.

3. A ramp device for automatic train control mechanism comprising asupporting ele ment, a ramp rail pivoted thereto for swinging movement,a shoe engageable with said rail for swinging the same, a pair ofrelatively pivoted links between the shoe and said supporting element, alever for actuating said shoe, and a connection between said lever andsaid pivoted links whereby the latter are held against collapse underthe influence of pressure against said shoe.

4:. A ramp device for automatic train control mechanisms comprising asupporting our signatures,

casing, a ramp rail pivoted to said casing for swinging movement, a shoeprojectable and retract-ible with respect to said casing and engageablewith said rail for swinging the same, a lever pivoted to the casing andto said shoe for moving the latter, a pair of relatively pivotallyconnected links connecting the casing and shoe, a rod connecting saidlinks with said lever, a weight in the form of a magnet bar carried atthe free end of said lever, and an electro-magnet disposed in operativerelation with said weight.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aiiix oTIs B. KENT. ROBERT L. MILLER.

